Mark of the Wolf (20 page)

* * * *

He hadn't been at the hotel after she had
woken up. At first she had been worried, but he had returned within
a few minutes, donuts and coffee in hand. She didn’t know why, but
she hadn’t been mad at him anymore. She just couldn’t hold onto her
grudge; not when he had brought her coffee, almost like a peace
offering. Then they had gone to a movie in a small, shabby theater
across the street; it only boasted two screens. She had sat next to
him in the darkened theater in front of the big screen, holding
onto his arm, laying her head against his shoulder. They hadn’t
paid much attention to the movie, just sat together, quiet and
peaceful.

Now they were at dinner. He had pulled her
into a booth, then sat next to her rather than across, trapping her
next to the window, as though even in this public place he was
somehow trying to protect her. He had ordered steak, she had
ordered pasta – she had never seen him eat anything other than
meat, probably another werewolf trait. The food was growing cold
now though. She had eaten some of the plate but was too anxious to
finish.

“
You’ll need your strength tonight,”
he said, indicating her hardly-touched plate.

“
You’ll need yours more,” she replied,
trying to keep the sadness from her voice. He hadn't told her that
the official "challenge" had been issued – it had been written all
over him when he had appeared that morning, coffee in one hand and
car keys in the other. She had seen the blood on the knife that he
carried. She didn't know exactly what had happened, but she
remembered snatches of the conversation yesterday with Isak –
tonight would be the fight. It was the full moon, after all. She
didn't know exactly what the fight would entail, only that it was
something beyond her imagination. She felt overwhelmed; everything
was moving so fast, she barely knew how to react or what to think.
Tomorrow was something she didn’t want to consider.

Gareth sighed, glancing at the clock. She
could tell he was tense; his leg kept twitching and his shoulders
had their familiar stiffness. She wanted to massage it out of him,
though now wasn’t the time.

“
You’ll do fine,” she said, trying to
reassure him and break the tense silence. “No pressure, okay? Don’t
feel like you have to do this for me or anything, we can always go
home. Well, maybe not, I don't know. But if you lose then life will
just go back to the way it’s always been, right?” She smiled,
trying to be positive. He didn’t respond immediately, so she kept
going; she was probably rambling but not knowing what else to do.
“You have a life in Black River too, you know. We’ll just go back
there and I’ll go to school and you’ll have your car shop, and
we’ll just be happy, alright? No big deal.”

He let out a heavy breath, pushing away his
plate. “As much as I like that you’re planning our life out,” he
said, “it’s not all that simple.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Alright, then how is
it?”

He was silent again, thinking, and his hand
traveled to land on her knee. It seemed to be its favorite resting
place. He squeezed slightly. “There’s something you should know,”
he finally said.

She sighed, impatient. “Okay, what?”

“
It’s about the fight.” She didn’t
like the shadow in his eyes, and something inside of her grew
nervous. “There’s no walking away for me if I lose.”

“
What do you mean?” She hated the way
her voice quivered.

“
A wolf doesn’t challenge a pack
leader twice without some kind of consequence,” he said slowly. “If
I lose… either I’m already dead, or they will kill me.”

“
They will….” Her eyes widened. His
words rang in her head in an odd way, echoing. She couldn’t make
her brain process the information. “You mean… like
dead,
dead?
Kill
you?”

He was studying her closely, gaging her
reaction. “It’s werewolf law,” he murmured. “It’s too dangerous to
let a lone wolf go free if he has challenged the Alpha more than
once. It’s just the way things are.”

“
You didn’t tell me….” Her voice was
hushed. She sat back after a moment, thinking about his words, and
turned to look out the window. Dead. As in, this could be their
last meal together. This could be the last few minutes they had
before she watched him get torn to pieces, shredded and chewed up
like the bodies in her cabin. It made her want to vomit. Despite
her past frustration with him, the idea of being without him
terrified her. How was she supposed to take this?

He was waiting for her reaction. She didn’t
know what to say, but she knew her response would be important; it
could make or break the battle to come. With a sudden moment of
clarity, she realized how vulnerable he must be right now. He
needed to know that she was on his side, that she would stand by
him. He was doing this for her, wasn't he? It was obvious in the
way he continued to hold her leg. The searching look in his eyes.
She slid her hand over his.

“
Well, we don’t have to worry about
that,” she said bravely, turning to smile at him. “Because you’re
going to rip his throat out, right? Just for me?”

He looked at her, and she couldn’t tell if he
was surprised, but suddenly he smiled. His teeth glinted. It made
her heart flutter. “Just for you,” he murmured. Then he leaned
forward and lightly kissed her, though even the light touch stirred
the embers of arousal. She had woken up horny and stayed that way
the entire day, devouring every touch they shared. By the way he
looked at her, she knew he felt it too, but somehow he was acting
extra in-control. At times the tension coming off of him was like a
wave, a palpable force of high-strung energy. The change was
subtle, but grew stronger with each passing hour. She wondered if
it had something to do with his werewolf nature and the full moon
rising.

“
Something you should know, though,”
he continued after a moment. “Isak, as my Beta, is charged with
your care if anything should happen to me. He will see that you’re
safe.”

Maddy frowned. “The pack won’t come after me
next, will they?”

“
They shouldn’t, but I wouldn’t trust
Kane. If anything
does
happen… go back to Black River and stay alert until
everything blows over. You should be safe once you're off pack
territory, but caution is always a plus.” He hesitated for a
moment. "Take my car if you have to."

Maddy nodded. At the thought of returning to
Black River without him, her stomach dropped, leaving her feeling
sick and empty. All that awaited her back in town was an abusive
stepfather and dead-end future. The only thing that had made her
life worth living up to this point was seeing Gareth at the
hardware store, or on their nighttime rendezvous. Without him,
there would be no point in going to Black River at all. She might
as well hop a bus to the nearest bridge and throw herself off of
it.

“
Hey,” he said suddenly, and tipped
her chin up, making her look in his eyes. “No tears, okay? I hate
seeing you cry.” And she realized then that she was crying, just a
little, a tear sliding down her cheek. She was horrified,
heartbroken. How could they be saying goodbye so soon? How could
she go on without him?

He pressed his lips against hers with such
painful gentleness that it made her want to cry even more. His
mouth was warm and she kissed him back, wondering if this was the
last time, their final moments before his destruction. And it was
all her fault. She had pushed him to do this. If only he had told
her the consequences sooner….

He broke the contact slowly, letting it wind
down into a lazy brush of lips. “We should be going soon. The site
is on the other side of town, and it’s good to know the area before
a fight.”

She nodded, forcing herself to smile up at him, not to cry.
He kissed the tip of her nose, a small show of affection, then
ruffled her hair. “Trust me,” he said quietly to her. “No matter
what happens tonight, you
have
to trust me, promise?”

She nodded again. “Of course. Promise.”

He squeezed her hand, engulfing it in his own
large palm, then slid out of the seat, helping her to her feet. She
could see a few heads turn to look at them as they walked out, hand
in hand, his motions obviously possessive. She wondered if it was
the age difference that people stared at, or her disheveled
appearance, or maybe just the pure power of the man who walked next
to her. She didn’t care either way.

They stepped out of the door and walked to
the Camaro. Only a few hours left. She had to make them count. Her
mind was racing as he opened the door and she slid into the
passenger seat, then he got in beside her, sitting for a moment
behind the wheel. Her heart began to pound as wild ideas flowed
through her, intensifying the heat in her body, making her skin
prickle. The silence grew with unspoken words until finally she
turned to him. She had made up her mind. If there was no going back
after tonight, then she wanted all of him, everything he had to
give. She was not going to waste her last few hours of
happiness.

“
I want you,” she said, looking at
him, studying his tan, lean form.

His head turned and he stared at her, his
green eyes widening slightly in surprise. “What?”

“
I-I want you,” she said again,
forcing the words out even as the blush grew in her cheeks. She
tried not to feel embarrassed saying it. “If this is going to be
our last time together, then I want it to count. I… I’ve never had
sex before, but I don’t want to waste this. I have to tell you
Gareth, I’ve always… I’ve always….” The words caught in her throat,
but she swallowed hard, making herself talk. “I’ve always wanted
you, okay? Ever since I was young, I waited for those nights when
you would come to me in the forest, for those days you would come
by the hardware store, though we never even spoke. I used to walk
by your house, just to see if you were outside, or maybe inside,
watching TV in your living room or sleeping or whatever it is you
do… if I had known where you worked, then I would have gone there
too.” She kept looking at him, staring into his eyes, hoping he
would understand exactly what it cost her to lay these things out
in the open. “I think I love you, Gareth.”

He looked… well, she wasn’t sure. He seemed
stunned, but then he sat back, and that slow, sexy smile curved
across his lips, almost like satisfaction. There was kindness in
his gaze, and he reached forward to touch her cheek, flicking
slightly at her hair.

“
Just so you know, I would drive
across town just to go to that hardware store and see you in that
sexy uniform.” The heat in his voice made her blush even harder,
and she grinned, relieved as the tension was suddenly
broken.

“
Sexy? Wow, you must really love me if
you think that uniform is sexy,” she half-laughed, then paused,
realizing what she had just said.

“
I do.”

“
What?” her mouth was dry.

“
Love you.”

“
You… love me?” It was the first time
he had said it, though by his actions, she had wondered before. But
hearing the words on his lips made her heart pound and butterflies
rest in her stomach. “Really?”

“
Yes,” he said quietly, moving closer
to her. “I really, really love you.” And she remembered his words
from the day before; she was his lifemate, he had known since they
had first met.

“
Then… should we….?” Her voice
wavered. He had been about to kiss her, she could tell, but then
abruptly he pulled back, a long sigh dragging from his throat. He
looked away suddenly, staring out the window, his shoulders tense
again.

“
We can’t,” he murmured.

She frowned. “Why not?”

“
There are… rules. Rituals, if you’d
like to think of them that way.” When he looked back at her, his
gaze was heavy with meaning. “Tonight is the full moon, Maddy. It
is already growing dark. The beast will be set free… it's not safe.
I promise you,” his voice was deep with passion. “If it was up to
me, I would pin you to the dashboard and not stop until you were
screaming my name. I would fuck you until those pretty eyes closed
and you couldn’t think from exhaustion. I would… god, I would….” He
was silent for a long moment. “But we can’t.”

“
Rules,” Maddy murmured, once she got
over the shock from his words; her body was tingling from his
graphic language. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel
hurt; rejected almost, though logically she knew it was ridiculous
to feel that way. “I guess I’ll understand later, right?" she
asked, somewhat bitter. "I wish you would explain these things to
me, but I get it. Werewolf stuff.” She rolled her eyes
sarcastically, then sat back instead and pulled on her seatbelt,
giving him a tight smile. “Let’s go then. We don’t want to be
late.”

His eyes were hot when he looked at her, and
she knew that he had meant every word he’d said. He put the keys in
the ignition anyway and started the car. They pulled out into the
street smoothly. It was already growing dark outside – the sun was
just a thin line on the horizon. The moon would be rising soon.